It was a very different sort of comic, taking place as it did during World War II, featuring a team consisting of Captain America and Bucky, the original Human Torch and Toro, and the Sub-mariner, although other characters (such as Spitfire) joined and departed over time. The book was written with much more of a 70s than a 40s sensibility, but it took place outside of normal Marvel continuity, which made it a great novelty.
But it was also a great read! The twelve-year-old recently came across my old Invaders stash in the basement, not a full run but a decent one, and I've re-read them over the past few days. The book had a combination of action and melodrama that appealed very much to me as a teen, and the art was unlike that in anything else I was reading at the time.
The bit of melodrama I'm focusing on here today has to do with the original android Human Torch, Jim Hammond, who in Roy Thomas' Invaders was portrayed as very human--emotional, insecure, hot-tempered (well, that last was a characteristic he had since his creation in the 40s)--and that was nowhere more apparent than in his relationship with Jacqueline Falsworth, who was to become Spitfire.
As is not unusual in comic books, the Torch met Jacquie in the process of rescuing her, specifically from the dastardly Baron Blood. Once that had been accomplished, the Torch drove the shaken young woman home, and they started to get to know one another.
Once home, Jacquie introduced the Torch to her father, Lord Falsworth, also known during the previous World War as the original Union Jack. A few battles later and the Invaders have been invited to dinner at the Falsworths'. The Torch, however, is not particularly enjoying his meal.
This is pretty much the same sort of attitude held by the Vision during the 70s in his pursuit of the Scarlet Witch--unsurprising at the time because contemporary Marvel continuity held that the Vision was the original Torch, in body at least.
In any case, although the Torch is jealous of Jacquie's obvious interest in Captain America--something probably more akin to a schoolgirl crush than anything else--he doesn't make any moves of his own because he feels he isn't worthy. But he maintains his own interest in her. And when Jacquie is injured in another attack by Baron Blood, his concern makes this apparent to at least one teammate.
The vampire's attack has done more than drain Jacquie of her blood--it has also altered the blood that is left, so that her blood type keeps changing. The doctors are at a loss as to what to do, but the Torch believes that his synthetic blood could be the answer.
Fortunately for Jacquie, the Torch is correct, and pretty soon her blood as been replaced almost in its entirety with his own. She recovers quickly, although she's a bit groggy:
(Don't you love the Silver Age? :))
Soon enough, Jacquie is fully alert and aware, and a good thing too as it turns out.
And we have an origin!
And an epilogue...
As it happens, this potential triangle was never resolved further to any extent, at least not that I remember (although, lacking a full collection, I may have missed something). There were very occasional mentions of the Torch's unrequited interest in Spitfire. Cap, for his part, never had any interest in her at all other than as a friend and teammate. I have no idea whether Jacquie ever became aware, during the original run of the book, of the Torch's interest in her at all.
One thing that strikes me is how young Jacquie is in this book--so different from her portrayal in the more recent New Invaders title. (I also enjoyed her appearances in Captain America last year, and I'm hoping that she shows up somewhere else soon.) It's no wonder she was so impressed with Cap, so oblivious to the Torch's almost-unadmitted interest in her. And now that I've reread the old Invaders, I'd like to see a more modern treatment of the concept. So if you hear anything, let me know. :)
2 comments:
Nice to see some Frank Robbins artwork on the web. He's something of an underappreciated talent, because his Canniff-ish style didn't really suit superheroes.
Nice article on the Invaders, but I'd like to add a few clarifications and comments. I'm a huge Invaders fan, and I've also been a longtime advocate of Cap ending up with Spitfire. That's to disclose my own bias.
The love triangle between the stolid and awkward Cap, the naive and enthusiastic Spitfire, and the smitten but inferior feeling Torch was one of the best things Roy Thomas did with the Invaders. Unfortunately it was abandoned towards the end for reasons unknown.
The early issues make it clear that Cap was certainly not unaware of either the Torch's crush on Spitfire, or Spitfire's crush on him.
The Torch's perspective was probably made more explicit throughout the whole thing, whereas you have to do a little reading between the lines to understand Cap's perspective.
First, Cap leads the Invaders and has to consider keeping the team together. In issue #11, as you post in your scan, the Torch throws a tantrum and burns through the hospital roof because Spitfire shows an interest in Cap. Reading a little (but not too much) between the lines, Cap might foresee a major problem if he acted on Spitfire's attraction. It's also a point of characterization for Cap, and has been throughout the modern age, that he doesn't mix business with pleasure. At least 4 or 5 female Avengers have demonstrated interest, but Cap has never dated someone on the team in the entire 43-year history of the Avengers. Therefore, declining to pursue a relationship with Jackie in the Invaders is right in character.
Second, at this point Cap is only a year or so removed from being a poor, scrawny kid from Brooklyn, while Jacqueline is the smashingly beautiful daughter of a British aristocrat. His reactions to her crush throughout the book are awkward, to say the least, and it's probably accurate to say that at this point in his life he hasn't had a relationship yet. I believe that Cap's overall perspective is a mixture of self-denial out of a sense of duty, and his own natural shyness.
Despite the fact that Cap is temporarily dead, I believe that Ed Brubaker has plans to expand upon the Cap/Spitfire relationship. He intimated as much in the "21st Century Blitz" arc, where he made a point of ending her relationship with Union Jack, and dropped hints that she still "carried a torch" (heh!) for Cap.
Keep an eye out for how this develops in the next couple of years.
Post a Comment